Talk:Anglo-Zulu War
TR, your adding brackets around British for "British Empire" made me wonder: Think we might want to make a seperate article for "British Empire"? :I've been debating that, along with articles for Spanish Empire, Italian Empire, and maybe restoring the GGR. I guess HT has enough diversity in his depictions of most empires that articles would serve a purpose. TR 00:13, 25 July 2009 (UTC) ::We set the precedent for Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, of all things--the Mongol Empire that gets one posthumous reference (albeit a central one) in one obscure short story from twenty years ago. ::Resurrecting the GGR was going to be my next recommendation. It's not quite the same as the German Empire, but I think the few references to non-Nazi versions of that empire are few enough that such an article is not necessary. With the British, we have the OTL empire and any number of ATL versions of the empire, some of which are portrayed in timelines in which the British influence is anything but apparent, and several non-imperial versions of Britain too. Turtle Fan 12:20, 25 July 2009 (UTC) I also had the idea that it's probably a good time to subdivide the Countries category, even though I've resisted that idea in the past. Real countries/fictional countries/fantasy countries, perhaps, with Fictional being countries like the CSA and Quebec, that never existed OTL but that HT puts onto the real world map in his AH or future stories, and fantasy is for countries in other worlds, like those of Derlavai, Detina, Videssos, Elabon, Raumsdalia, and that Magic Scepter trilogy, if one of us ever reads it. I'm actually starting to think of giving it a go myself. Turtle Fan 03:58, 24 July 2009 (UTC) ::Yeah, I've been thinking that at a minimum an OTL/ATL division would be a good starting point. TR 00:13, 25 July 2009 (UTC) :::I'll try to start that this week; my schedule seems to be opening up a wee bit lately. :::Appropos of nothing but I just realized that Between the Rivers is a fantasy novel whose city-states and other geographical features can be placed on the real-world map. Appropos of nothing, I say, because that category never unfolded, and I doubt anyone is going to help it along now. I read it over seven years ago, it was all right but not so compelling that I remember more than a handful of story elements after all this time. Though oddly enough, just yesterday I was for some reason trying to remember the title given to a human monarch who ruled a city in his own name as opposed to heading the government on behalf of his god. Lugal, it was, whereas the other was an ensi, while gods like Enimhursag, who were very active in the affairs of their cities, allowed them neither lugals nor ensis. Turtle Fan 12:20, 25 July 2009 (UTC) ::::I still have it, but haven't read it. It might unfold just fine. Actually, I have much before me that really ought to unfold. TR 20:43, 25 July 2009 (UTC) :::::It was fun. :::::I'd really like to make the Gerin category unfold, but I don't think I'll ever get around to it. A shame; that was a helluva series. Turtle Fan 10:15, 26 July 2009 (UTC) MFW I don't think the Zulu War merits an article with a full OTL section. In HFR, Richardson states that blacks haven't the spirit for a full-scale war, and Schlieffen replies "I think perhaps the Englishmen fighting the - Zulus, I believe to be the name of the tribe - in the south of Africa would about this something different say." Richardson is speechless. This article must come from the early days of the wiki, when there was an assumption that every European war alluded to in 191 must be exactly the same as OTL. E.g., there was an Easter Rising article, which is now deleted as the ER is never mentioned in connection to the timeline's Irish rebellion. The reference to the Zulu War is so brief and unspecific that it's not clear how close to OTL it is. We don't know whether it began in the same year, had the same commanders, or had the same outcome. I think the best way to handle this is the same way as the War of the Triple Alliance in GotS - move it to List of Minor Wars in Turtledove's Work with this description: "Anglo-Zulu War*, fought in the south of Africa before 1881. Alfred von Schlieffen alludes to this war to shatter Oliver Richardson's assertion that Negroes lack the fighting spirit for a full-scale war. This is an analog of an OTL war (1876-1879). By contrast, the Franco-Prussian War article can stay, as it is an important theme pervading the series, that the FPW went down strictly on schedule.JonathanMarkoff (talk) 21:43, January 24, 2019 (UTC)